In its attempt to advocate for a cleaner city and organised entrepreneurship, the Welkom Local Municipality has clamped down on hawkers in the Central Business District (CBD).
“Hawkers in the Welkom CBD and surrounding areas have been left wanting following intervention from the municipality’s management,” says municipal spokesperson Thokozile Nkuna.
She says it was while tending to the city’s refuse removal challenges at night that municipal management came across the filth left by hawkers when they leave in the evenings.
“The hawkers who sell on sidewalks in different parts of the city do not clean the areas in which they operate.
“Cleanliness and environmental well-being have received priority since the new administration took office. The municipality has undertaken the task to ensure cleanliness through constant and consistent cleaning campaigns, spearheaded by Team Matjhabeng,” she says.
The Matjhabeng Public Safety Directorate embarked on a clean-up operation to not only encourage hawkers to keep the city clean, but to also warn them of the consequences, should they fail to do so.
Hawkers were asked to remove their stock from the entrances of registered shops and clean their work stations.
“Investigations revealed that most of the hawkers do not own permits to be operating in those areas. It is a municipal regulation that all hawkers must operate at the designated areas so that they can be properly organised, formalised and structured,” she says.
Bylaws and legislation will be followed to ensure the proper running of these informal businesses.
A total of 44 hawkers operating in Welkom were given warnings during the clean-up operation. Those in possession of permits that had expired between May 2020 and June 2021 were given an extended grace period until 31 December 2022, as these permits are still legal.
The Matjhabeng Local Municipality is working in collaboration with the Welkom Magistrate’s Court and will be issuing fines (minimum R500) for non-compliance.
“The municipality continues to support and acknowledge the role played by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in growing the local economy and will assist and encourage small business owners to run safe, clean and formalised businesses for the benefit of the broader community,” says Nkuna.
